For Josephine:: Heidi Hartung Rispoli Receives ACS Humanitarian Award

“What is grief, if not love persevering?” 

Two weeks after the worst moment of her life, Heidi Hartung Rispoli, a Classes Performer at Life Time Bergen County (NJ), called the personal trainer she had been working with one day and told him she needed to train, to feel the pain of a brutal workout. She was overflowing with dark energy and wanted to put it to use. 

Two weeks before that, Heidi suffered through the worst pain imaginable for a parent: laying her daughter to rest after a valiant fight with cancer. 

In 2010, Josephine Elle Hartung Rispoli was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer at the age of six. While in treatment, there was no place for the kids in the hospital to go outside. Heidi remembers spending over 250 days in a 13-month period of treatment in the hospital, and Josephine, along with the other children, had nowhere to go outside. Heidi hated the idea of her daughter and the other kids not getting the chance to safely enjoy some fresh air.

So, she decided to do something about it. “I’m very connected with nature and so are my kids. I found a rooftop that wasn’t being used, and the CEO of the hospital reached out,” Heidi says. “He asked me to represent the patients at a conference with representatives from D.C. for an initiative called ‘Partnership for Patients.’”

Heidi agreed, but in return wanted to use the rooftop at the hospital to build a garden. They reached an agreement, and the first fundraiser for Josephine’s Garden was held on September 7, 2011. 

Sadly, seven-year-old Josephine passed away shortly thereafter on October 23 of that year. But her spirit lives on in the hearts and minds of her family. In the garden bearing her name, there’s a 14-foot warrior pole for kids to write their names on, a fountain, her drawings and more. Josephine remains in every moment, in the spirit of the lives impacted by Heidi’s relentless work. 

“What I love most is the notes I get from other parents. I had one person reach out to me and say, ‘My little baby never felt wind on her face before. She went out and giggled when she felt wind on her face for the first time,’” Heidi says. “They’re coming for treatment. For cancer. But they look forward to going to that space.” 

The branches of Josephine’s Garden have grown—the organization has raised more than $1.5 million for children’s cancer research and patient/family support. It brings people together and gives them peace, solace. The final phase was completed last October with a partial rooftop so the kids can go outside even when it’s raining.

In 2020, Josephine’s Garden became an official 501 3c non-profit. Heidi also started traveling to Washington D.C. to advocate for childhood cancer research and funding. She was instrumental in getting the S.T.A.R Act committed to law. In 2015, the Josephine Elle Hartung Rispoli Research Lab was completed, the first of its kind in New Jersey that allowed for phase one and two clinical trials for children.

There are no silver linings when living through such loss, but Heidi has channeled everything she has to build a legacy worthy of Josephine’s memory. And that was noticed, in a class at Life Time, by Bonnie Krentzman, a Life Time member and chair of the Northern New Jersey Volunteer Leadership Council for the American Cancer Society (ACS).

“Some friends suggested going to Heidi’s class after I started my membership, and they told me the classes wouldn’t be easy,” Bonnie remembers. “I knew nothing except her name. But I was blown away by her approach. The positivity that came out and how she looks at the world, I was hooked.” 

Not long after, Bonnie’s eyes were opened to the fundraising that Heidi had spearheaded and the woman she was. As the ACS chapter was gathering nominees for their annual Diamond Ball Gala—a night celebrating the community resilience and shared commitment to fighting cancer—she read up on Heidi’s work. Bonnie was floored that Heidi wasn’t just a Life Time performer but also a social worker and hospice/grief counselor. A source of comfort and hope for those who needed it. So, Bonnie told Heidi that she would like to nominate her for the Jody A. Morrow Humanitarian Award, which is given to a nominee who most showcases dedication to improving the lives of others, especially those who are suffering.

And on November 23, at the 44th annual Diamond Ball Gala, Heidi was named the award’s winner. 

“Tonight, we honor a woman who has turned personal tragedy into a moment of healing, advocacy and hope,” Bonnie wrote in honor of Heidi’s achievement. “A woman who inspires us to do better, give more and never stop fighting for our children.” 

Heidi often pushes her students to do more in class, Bonnie says, often telling them, “You can do it.” And she thinks that the same inner voice must have been echoing inside Heidi’s heart while she was building the Garden. 

“Heidi had an option when Josephine died: to grieve and shut the world out…or to grieve and move forward, finding a way to help others who were facing the same pain—and to keep Josephine’s memory alive. Heidi chose to move forward, and because of that choice, the world is different.” 

“It’s humbling in a way, I’m honored,” Heidi explains when asked about what it feels like to win the award. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without the support of my community. I am so happy to be recognized because it can be such a lonely place, a lonely walk for the parent who has lost a child. The journey of any kind of illness, once you’re in it, you’re in a fish tank looking out. You start grieving the loss of normalcy—your life is changed forever. 

“You grieve multiple losses. It’s complicated. It’s not just the loss of your person. If I can give anyone the place, the room, to be able to talk and share and not feel so alone, that would be great.”

To break doesn’t mean you’re broken. To fall doesn’t mean you cannot stand. Heidi is living proof of it, as are so many parents across the world who suffer through losing a child. 

And even after raising so much money, impacting so many families, there was a moment in which a crucial question popped into Heidi’s mind: once you start doing this work, how can you stop?

“You don’t,” Heidi says with a smile.

She’ll never have to. And for every moment, day, win and loss, she’ll have her daughter’s spirit with her every step of the way.

For Josephine. Always.